• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.1533-1538
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• 2007

This study was carried out to determine the inhibitory effects of solvent extracts from Sargassum hemiphyllum on growth of cancer cell lines (AGS human gastric adenocarcinoma and HT-29 human colon cancer cells) and production of lipid peroxides. Inhibitory effects of acetone with methylene chloride extract from S. hemiphyllum on the growth of AGS and HT-29 cancer cells were increased as dose dependent patterns (p<0.05). The methanol extract was more effective on inhibition of growth of AGS. The treatments of hexane, 85% aq. methanol, butanol and water fractions significantly inhibited the growth of cancer cells (p<0.05) and the inhibitory effect was stronger in HT-29. In DCFH-DA (dichlorodihydrofluorescin diacetate) assay, acetone with methylene chloride and methanol extracts showed a stronger inhibitory effect on the production of cellular lipid peroxides (p<0.05) compared with the butanol and hexane fractions. These results indicate that the consumption of S. hemiphyllum may be recommended as a potent functional food for preventing cellular oxidation and cancer.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.123-129
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• 2006

Objectives : The incidence of colorectal cancer increased greatly among the elderly in Korea, but the relationship between smoking and colon cancer remains controversial. Few studies have targeted Asian elderly people. We analyzed the smoking status, the amount smoked, and the smoking duration as risk factors of colorectal cancer to determine their association and causality. Methods: The cohort members (n=14, 103) consisted of 4,694 males and 9,409 females, and they were derived from the Korea Elderly Phamacepidemilogic Cohort (KEPEC), which was a population-based dynamic cohort. They were aged 65 years or more and they lived in Busan Metropolitan City between from 1993-1998; they were beneficiaries of the Korean Medical Insurance Corporation (KMIC). The baseline information was surveyed by a self-administered mailed questionnaire; after 8.7 person-years of mean follow up period, 100 cases of colorectal cancer occurred. The adjusted relative ratio (aRR) of smoking status, the smoking amount and the smoking duration were calculated from the Cox's proportional hazard model with the never-smokers as a reference group and the Cox model controlled for age, gender, precancerous lesions of CRC, medication history of NSAIDs & antibiotics, the alcohol drinking status and BMI. Results : Compared with the never smokers, the aRRs were 2.03 (95% CI=1.02-4.03) and 1.36 (95% CI=0.80-2.32) for the ex-smokers and current smokers, respectively. Statistical significant trends were not observed for the dose-relationship among the elderly, either for the mean daily amount smoked (p for trend=0.28) or for the total amount (p for trend=0.15). Still, the aRRs were 1.51 (95% CI=0.97-2.34) for the elderly who smoked less than 40 years and 2.35 (95% CI=1.16-4.74) for the elderly who had 40 years or more of smoking (p for trend=0.06). Smokers who started smoking before the age 20 had an increased aRR of 2.15 (95% CI=1.17-3.93) compared to the never smokers. Conclusions : After controlling for age, gender, precancerous lesion of CRC, medication history of NSAIDs & antibiotics, the alcohol drinking status and BMI, smoking increases the risk of colorectal cancer among elderly people. The age when starting smoking is also important.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.936-940
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• 2004

Doenjang (Korean soy paste) is one of the popular soybean based fermented foods in Korea. This study investigated the growth and DNA synthesis inhibitory effect of doenjang methanol extracts on AGS human gastric adenocarcinoma cells, Hep 3B human hepatocellular carcinoma cells and HT-29 human colon cancer cells. In order to determine an anticancer effect of doenjang methanol extracts, other soybean fermented foods and original materials were compared. The treatment of doenjang methanol extracts (200 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mL) to the AGS, Hep 3B and HT-29 cancer cells inhibited the growth of cancer cells by 80%, 77% and 86%, respectively. Compared to other soybean fermented foods and original materials, doenjang methanol extracts showed the highest growth inhibitory effect on different cancer cells. In addition, doenjang methanol extracts (200 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mL) significantly inhibited DNA synthesis of AGS and Hep 3B cancer cells by 76% and 59%, respectively. These results suggested that this anticancer effect of doenjang may be due to specific active compounds, which will be newly produced during soybean fermented process and not contained in soybean.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.128-133
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• 2015

Although coffee is known to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antitumor properties, there have been few reports about the effect and mechanism of coffee compounds in colorectal cancer. Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are molecular chaperones that prevent cell death. Their expression is significantly elevated in many tumors and is accompanied by increased cell proliferation, metastasis and poor response to chemotherapy. In this study, we investigated the cytotoxicity of four bioactive compounds in coffee, namely, caffeine, caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, and kahweol, in HT-29 human colon adenocarcinoma cells. Only kahweol showed significant cytotoxicity. Specifically, kahweol increased the expression of caspase-3, a pro-apoptotic factor, and decreased the expression of anti-apoptotic factors, such as Bcl-2 and phosphorylated Akt. In addition, kahweol significantly attenuated the expression of HSP70. Inhibition of HSP70 activity with triptolide increased kahweol-induced cytotoxicity. In contrast, overexpression of HSP70 significantly reduced kahweol-induced cell death. Taken together, these results demonstrate that kahweol inhibits colorectal tumor cell growth by promoting apoptosis and suppressing HSP70 expression.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.45-53
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• 2018

Purpose: Local recurrence is a common failure pattern in adenocarcinoma of the cecum. This study aimed to investigate the potential role of adjuvant radiation therapy on oncologic outcomes of patients with adenocarcinoma of the cecum. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was carried out at three large tertiary university hospitals. We analyzed the characteristics, prognostic factors, and survival of 162 patients with adenocarcinoma of the cecum that were treated and followed up between 2000 and 2013. All the patients had undergone a right hemicolectomy and received chemotherapy with (n = 48) or without (n = 114) adjuvant radiation therapy. Results: The subjects were 65 females and 97 males with a median age of 56 years (range, 17 to 90 years) at diagnosis. The 5-year local control (LC), disease free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) rates were 72.7%, 57.2%, and 62.6% respectively. In a multivariate analysis, age, tumor stage, node stage, and adjuvant radiation therapy were determined to be independent prognostic factors. Age more than 55 years (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.0; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.06-0.32; p = 0.003), T4 stage (HR = 6.8; 95% CI, 3.07-15.36; p < 0.001), node positive disease (HR = 4.2; 95% CI, 1.94-9.13; p < 0.001), and the absence of adjuvant radiation therapy (HR = 3.0; 95% CI, 1.39-6.46; p = 0.005) had a negative influence on OS. Conclusion: Adjuvant radiation therapy significantly improves DFS and OS in patients with adenocarcinoma of the cecum.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.172-177
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• 2008

As a part of estimating quantitative radiation treatment doses, we produced a mathematical phantom based on the standard Korean male. Then, with the prostate as the source organ, we calculated the absorbed dose in the prostate and surrounding organs forecasted to occur during brachytherapy for prostate cancer. To simulate the procedure, we selected $^{25}I$ and $^{103}Pd$ useful in brachytherapy of the prostate as the radionucleids and made an assumption that 1 Ci of initial radioactivity is administered. As a result, we found that the prostate, as the source organ, indicated 101 Gy/Ci and 7.24 Gy/Ci, respectively, in case of $^{125}I$ and $^{103}Pd$. With the exception of the prostate, organs with high absorbed doses were found to be in the order of the penis and scrotum, sigmoid colon, testicles and the urinary bladder, which are relatively close to the prostate.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.101-101
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• 2003

Prostaglandins (PGs) and nitric oxide (NO) produced by inducible cyclooygenase (COX-2) and nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), respectively, have been implicated as important mediators in the process of inflammation and carcinogenesis. On this line, the potential COX-2 or iNOS inhibitors have been considered as anti-inflammatory and cancer chemopreventive agents. In our continuing efforts of searching for novel cancer chemopreventive agents from natural products, we isolated natural sesquiterpenoids as potential COX-2 and iNOS inhibitors in cultured lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated mouse macrophage RAW 264.7 cells. Alantolactone, a natural eudesmane-type sesquiterpenoid, exhibited a potent inhibition of COX-2 (IC50 = 0.4 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$) and iNOS activity (IC50 = 0.08 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$) in the assay system determined by PGE2 and NO accumulation, respectively. The inhibitory potential of alantolactone on the PGE2 and NO production was well coincided with the suppression of COX-2 and iNOS protein and mRNA expression in LPS-induced macrophages. Furthermore, alantolactone inhibited NF-kB but not AP-l binding activity on nuclear extracts evoked by LPS-stimulated macrophage cells, suggesting the possible involvement of NF-kB in the regulation of COX-2 and iNOS expression. In further study with COX-2-expressing human colon HT-29 cells, alantolactone inhibited the cell proliferation, down-regulated COX-2, and inhibited the ERK phosphorylation in the early time. These results suggest that a natural sesquiterpenoid alantolactone might be a potential lead candidate for further developing COX-2 or iNOS inhibitor possessing cancer chemopreventive or anti-inflammatory activity

• Toxicological Research
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 2010

The present study was conducted to investigate the antimutagenic potential of the methanolic extract from the leaves of sweet potato (Ipomea batatas, IB) with the SOS chromotest (umu test) and Salmonella typhimurium TA 98 and TA 100. The anticarcinogenic effects were also studied by calculation of the $IC_{50}$ on human cancer cell lines and investigating the function of gap junction in rat liver epithelial cells. The IB extract inhibited dose-dependently the ${\beta}$-galactosidase activity induced spontaneously at concentration of more than 200 mg/ml in S. typhimurium TA 1535/pSK 1002, and decreased significantly (p < 0.01) the ${\beta}$-galactosidase activities induced by mutagen 6-chloro-9-[3-(2-chloroethylamino)proylamino]-2-methoxyacridine dihydrochloride (ICR) at dose of more than 0.4 mg/0.1 ml. The IB extract showed no effect on the spontaneous reversions of S. typhimurium TA 98 and 100 but benzo(${\alpha}$)pyrene (BaP)-stimulated reversions were decreased dose-dependently (p < 0.01) at the concentration of more than 100 mg/ml. The $IC_{50}$ value of stomach cancer cells was lower than that of normal rat liver epithelial cells, but the values of colon and uterine cancer cell lines were similar to those of normal rat liver epithelial cells. The transfer of dye through gap junctions was not affected by treatment of the IB extracts at any concentration during treatment periods. The simultaneously treatment of IB extract and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) effectively prevented the inhibition of dye transfer induced by TPA 1 hour after treatment at all exposed concentrations. The number of gap junctions was significantly (p < 0.01) increased by the treatment with IB extract at concentrations of more than 40 ${\mu}g$/ml. The inhibition of the expression of gap junction proteins by TPA (0.01 ${\mu}g$/ml) was recovered dose dependently by the simultaneous treatment of IB extracts. Our data suggest that Ipomea batatas has antimutagenic and anticarcionogenic activity in vitro.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7091-7095
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• 2014

Background: The study aimed to evaluate the incidence of CpG island promoter methylation of BMP6, a member of the transforming growth factor beta family, in tissue samples from colorectal cancers (CRC) and look for its association with BMP6 expression and clinicopathological correlation. Materials and Methods: Methylation specific PCR for the BMP6 promoter region was performed with 85 frozen tissue samples of CRC and 45 of normal colon. Methylation status of MLH1 was also determined by the same method. Expression of BMP6 was evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC), using Allred's scoring system. The methylation status was analyzed against clinical and pathological parameters in CRC. Results: The study revealed BMP6 hypermethylation in 34 of 85 tumor specimens (40%), and 15 out of 45 normal tissue samples from CRC (33%). The incidence of hypermethylation was inversely correlated with IHC score. Allred's scores of 7 or more were correlated with lower frequency of BMP6 hypermethylation (29% compared to 50% in the remaining, p-value 0.049). However, there was no association between hypermethylation status and any clinicopathological parameters. The methylation status of BMP6 was not correlated with that of MLH1, a key methylation determinant in CRC. On survival analysis, there was no significant difference in progress-free survival (PFS) between the cases with and without hypermethylation (2-year PFS 74% and 76%, respectively). Conclusions: CpG island methylation of BMP6 is found in high frequency in CRC and this epigenetic event is associated with suppressed protein expression in the tumor tissue. However, the marker is not associated with tumor progression of the disease.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1807-1810
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• 2014

Background: It is known that inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)/nitric oxide (NO) plays an integral role during intestinal inflammation, an important factor for colon cancer development. Natural compounds from Curcuma longa L. (Zingiberaceae) have long been a potential source of bioactive materials with various beneficial biological functions. Among them, a major active curcuminoid, demethoxycurcumin (DMC) has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory properties in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated macrophages or microglia cells. However, the role of DMC on iNOS expression and NO production in an in vitro inflamed human intestinal mucosa model has not yet been elucidated. This study concerned inhibitory effects on iNOS expression and NO production of DMC in inflamed human intestinal Caco-2 cells. An in vitro model was generated and inhibitory effects on NO production of DMC at 65 ${\mu}M$ for 24-96 h were assessed by monitoring nitrite levels. Expression of iNOS mRNA and protein was also investigated. DMC significantly decreased NO secretion by 35-41% in our inflamed cell model. Decrease in NO production by DMC was concomitant with down-regulation of iNOS at mRNA and protein levels compared to proinflammatory cytokine cocktail and LPS-treated controls. Mechanism of action of DMC may be partly due to its potent inhibition of the iNOS pathway. Our findings suggest that DMC may have potential as a therapeutic agent against inflammation-related diseases, especially in the gut.